


Follow the Leader

by bokayjunkie



Series: i can still recall (summer of '17) [10]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arrow S04E03 Restoration, Gen, Missing Scene, OlicityHiatusFic, OlicityHiatusFic-A-Thon, arrow season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 12:23:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12012663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokayjunkie/pseuds/bokayjunkie
Summary: “I feel really special that you all want to spend time with me today. I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve this attention.”Everyone wants to have lunch with Felicity. Who will she choose?For the OHFAT prompt: choose





	Follow the Leader

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Olicity Hiatus Ficathon curated by [@thebookjumper](https://thebookjumper.tumblr.com/)
> 
> This takes place after 4x03 and before 4x04. Pretty much a missing scene of sort that doesn't disturb canon.
> 
> I kind of wrote this in a hurry and figured i'd get this out of the way now rather than later as I know I wont have time to post anything tomorrow or the following day. Also, just a warning this isn't beta'd or anything.

It’s in the middle of the day when Thea walks through the doors of her office, surprising Felicity with her presence.

“Hey.” Felicity greets her with a wide smile. She gives the girl a hug in welcome. “I didn’t know you were coming by. Is everything okay downstairs?

Downstairs being their secret lair hidden in an unmarked basement of the building. Which, at the moment, they’re in the process of clearing out due to the most recent security compromise.

“No, everything’s fine.” Thea assures. “I’m actually here because I was hoping I can steal you away for lunch.”

“Oh?” That came as a surprise to her as this is the first time Thea has initiated spending time with her.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we hung out. Actually, we’ve never hung out together unless it was surrounded by tragedy.”

Which is true. The last time they’ve spent any time together it was after Oliver had went off to join the League of Assassins. Thea was hardly in the right state of mind as she was mourning the loss of her brother and trying to grasp the whole ‘I was halfway dead now I’m alive’ thing.

“Besides, with all this vigilante work, I feel like I need a little bit of normalcy in my life right now. And you’re the most normal person I know.”

“Normal, right.” Felicity snorts. “If you call being a CEO to a multi-billion dollar company and the technical support for a group of vigilante’s normal.”

“Yeah but you’re not like us. You’re not touched by darkness like the rest of us.”

She looks at the young girl with a somber smile. “I’ve been touched by my fair share of darkness.” She may not show it like the rest of them, but there are still moments from her past that still haunts her.

“I know.” Thea quickly backtracks. “I didn’t mean anything by that. It’s just… you don’t let it affect you, you know? You’re good at fighting off the darkness. That’s what Ollie always says. You chase his demons away.”

Felicity couldn’t help but smile. It’s clear there’s something more that’s bothering her; she still remembers how Thea went off the deep end a couple of weeks ago when they were chasing down Ghosts. Oliver certainly has been concerned about his little sister’s mental well being and remembering the warnings they got about the after effects of the Pit.

“And I figured, I kind of need that right now. I need a little lightness and what a better way to get that than to spend time with you.”

“Oh Thea, I would really love that,” she starts to say. “But-”

Before she can finish her response, a knock on the door interrupts her.

“Hey.”

Both women look up to see Laurel standing by the entryway.

“Hey.” Felicity greets back with a surprised smile. She walks over to the other woman and gave her a hug. “I wasn’t expecting you here either.”

Laurel briefly glances at Thea’s direction before turning her attention back to Felicity.

“I just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing.”

Despite the casual way she spoke, Felicity could tell there was a hint of tension in her demeanor. It wasn’t towards her though. From what she can observe, it’s between Laurel and Thea.

The moment Laurel made her presence known, she could feel Thea become rigid and immediately retreat to herself. She even noticed how the younger woman avoided looking at Laurel’s direction since she arrived.

Then there’s also Laurel who looks slightly awkward being around her. Though she tries to hide it, Felicity can still see her try to gauge Thea’s reaction. Something is definitely going on between these two.

“I’m doing great. Feeling a bit of love right now to get a visit from you two.”

The two women smiles at her apprehensively; Felicity can see the tension between them.

“That’s good.” Laurel says. “I also came by to thank you, you know, for lending me the jet last week.”

“Of course. What good is having a private jet if I can’t let my friends use it.” Felicity shrugs. “Besides, I figured it was for a good cause. How was that spa retreat by the way? I think that’s what Oliver said you two were doing?”

The two women simultaneously went tense, their eyes widening at the question. That certainly made Felicity confused but Laurel immediately covers it up with a smile.

“It was great.” She said, way too cheerfully. “We had a great time, right Thea?”

It was the first time Thea actually looks Laurel’s direction. For a moment, she donned on a blank stare until Laurel gave her a pointed look. Finally, Thea nodded and gave a thin smile to Felicity’s direction.

“Yeah, it was fine.”

It sure didn’t sound fine, but Felicity didn’t have time to dwell on it as Laurel continues to speak.

“Anyways, I figured I’d take you out to lunch. You know, to thank you and everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Laurel. You’re my friend. That’s what friends are for.”

“I know, but I was kind of hoping we can also talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yeah about… well.” the woman shifts, looking slightly sheepish. “I kind of wanted to talk about Sara.”

Felicity was surprised and confused at the same time. She certainly didn’t expect that. And she also noticed Thea flinch in the corner of her eye at the mention of Sara. What is going on with these two?

“I’ve been missing her lately and I know you two were close.” Laurel continues. “So I was hoping I can talk to you about her. You know, get to know who my sister was as the Canary.”

“That’s really sweet Laurel. But I don’t know if I’m the right person to talk to about Sara. I mean, yeah, we spent a lot of time together, but I didn’t really know her that well. Maybe you can talk to Oliver?”

Laurel scoffed. “I don’t really think Ollie and I are capable of having any kind of civilized conversation about our life outside of work.”

“Yeah, the moment I said it I knew it was a bad idea.” Felicity scrunches her nose for emphasize. The two might be friends, but there’s still a little bit of tension there as well.

“Listen, Felicity, you may not think you and Sara were close, but Sara definitely did.” Laurel said. “She told me how she always thought of you as her friend and I could see that she was fond of you. And that was even before I found out what you two really did at night.”

“Oh.”

Felicity is touched finding that out. She thought of Sara as a friend too, but didn’t really think she had much agency towards her. That was one of the great loss from her death, the fact that she never made any effort to really get to know the woman behind the mask.

“I would really love to, Laurel.” Felicity started. “But I-”

“Hey honey!” a voice calls out interrupting Felicity once again.

The three women turn to see Oliver with Diggle closely behind him entering the office. There was only a moment of pause from Oliver upon seeing the other two in the room, before he went straight ahead to Felicity and scooping her in his arms, greeting her with a kiss.

“Hey, what are you two doing here?” she said with a grin. She tries to untangle herself from his embrace, but Oliver is very persistent in keeping her in his arms.

Instead, Felicity was able to hold out a hand to reach over to Diggle, who leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek in greeting.

“We’ve come to steal you away for lunch.” He announces with a giddy smile.

“Is that so?” Felicity responds with a playful grin.

“Mh-hm. Since you’re all about reminiscing, Diggle and I figured we can go get a bite at Big Belly Burger. Just the three of us.”

“Yeah, Felicity, just like old times.” Diggle added. “Only this time, without any mission reports. Just eating and enjoying each other’s company.”

It’s been something they’ve been doing for the past week. Ever since Oliver and Diggle made up, the three of them are always together and recollect their early days together as Team Arrow. The three have been thoroughly enjoying going down memory road, Felicity especially, always getting teary eyed when she talks about their early days as a team.

“Oh man, now that you mention it I am kind of craving a Belly Buster right now.” She lets out a groan.

“And we’ll even order a large plate of fries this time for you.” Diggle said. “Because we both know Oliver always steals your fries and ends up eating half of them.”

“Yeah even though you insist that you don’t want fries with your order, you always steal mine anyways.” She says to Oliver in a scolding tone.

“I don’t usually want fries, but they always look good on your plate.” Oliver says in a defensive tone, but the look on his face is anything but apologetic.

Felicity rolls her eyes and Diggle just chuckles.

“So what do you say, Felicity?” Diggle continues. “Want to have another, what was it that you called us? The OTA? And OTA lunch at Big Belly for old time sake? We can even make fun of Oliver, like we use do.”

“Hey!”

Felicity laughed along with Diggle, ignoring Oliver’s protest.

“Oh, you guys,” Felicity says with an affectionate smile. “You have no idea how much I want to join you two.” She managed to unwrap herself from Oliver’s embrace, taking advantage of his brief distraction.

“In fact, I feel really special that you all want to spend time with me today.” She said, looking at all four of her visitors. “I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve this attention.”

“What are you two doing here?” Oliver asks, finally acknowledging the other two women in the room.

“You know you two aren’t the only friends Felicity has.” Laurel says in a wry manner, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And considering I was here first, I should get first dibs at lunch with Felicity.” Thea announces, stepping closer to stand next to Felicity.

“Wait, what?” Oliver looks at his sister confused. “Why do you get to have lunch with Felicity?”

“Because I want to spend time with her. Geez, Ollie, needy much. You’ve literally had her all to yourself for five months, don’t you think other people should also get to spend time with her?”

Oliver narrows his eyes at his sister as Thea gave him a smirk. As much as Felicity wants to interject, this was the first time she’s heard this playful tone from Thea in a while.

“In that case maybe you and I can have dinner later.” Laurel spoke up once again, smiling kindly at Felicity’s direction. “You know, so I can thank you for the jet and to talk about that thing?”

“What thing?”

“None of your business, Ollie.” Laurel said with a glare.

“They do have a point, Oliver.” Diggle said before Oliver can respond back and the two start another verbal match. “We’ve monopolized Felicity’s attention already, we should let other people spent time with her.”

Oliver looks like he was about to protest, but was stopped when Felicity place a hand on his arm. He looks at her, a small pout forming on his lips, but she responds with an affectionate kiss on his shoulder. Apparently, that was more than enough to reason with him.

“Look, guys, I really appreciate you all coming to me and wanting to spend time with me.” Felicity says to the group kindly. “But unfortunately, I can’t go with any of you. I’ve already got a date for lunch.”

Everyone looks dejected, but it was only Oliver who was dumbfounded.

“With who?” he said with a slight demand in his tone.

Felicity gave him a sly smile. Then, right on time, the sound of hurried footsteps interrupted the group. They all turned to see Lyla enter in a rush with baby Sara in her arms.

“Hey Felicity.” She greets before noticing she wasn’t alone. “Oh hey, everyone.”

The group waves and Diggle immediately walks over to his wife and daughter, embracing the two and giving them each a kiss.

“Hey, what are you two doing here?”

“I’ve been called away to Central City for a meeting.” Lyla huffs. “I can’t get the normal nanny to look after Sara. Fortunately, Felicity says she can take care of her for the afternoon.”

“Yep, hello bubba.” Felicity cooed, reaching over to take Sara from Lyla’s arms. “Are you excited to have a fun afternoon with aunt Felicity?” She continues to tickle Sara who excitedly squealed at the attention.

“So, this is your date?” Oliver said, making his way next to Felicity.

“Yup, jealous?” she smirked at him.

“Oh, insanely.” He chuckles and leans down to give a kiss to the squealing baby girl.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Diggle asks his wife.

“You and Oliver were busy. Besides, I knew Felicity would hand off Sara to you when you were done.” She says simply. Then she glances at all the other people in the room. “Is there some sort of Team Arrow meeting that we’re interrupting.”

“No, just visiting Felicity.” Her husband says.

“Okay.” She nodded, not needing anymore explanation. “So, Felicity, here’s Sara’s bag with everything she’s gonna need for the afternoon.” She hands off the baby bag to the woman who is still cooing over her daughter. “If there’s anything you need –"

“Then I will ask Dig.” Felicity finishes for her. “I’ve got this, Lyla. Go. I know you’re already on a time crunch.”

“Thank you again.” Lyla sighs gratefully. “Bye Baby, Mommy will see you tonight.” She leans over and gave a quick kiss on the baby’s cheek. Then gave a quick peck on Diggle’s lips before walking out of the office.

“So, you’ve got lunch plans with baby Sara?” Thea surmised, watching as Felicity cooed over the baby.

“Not exactly lunch plans.” Felicity shrugs. “I was just gonna order some sushi and have lunch here with baby Sara until Diggle was free to take her and I can go back to work.”

“Thanks for looking out for my baby girl, Felicity.” Diggle smiles at her appreciatively.

“Of course, she is my goddaughter.”

“Then I guess we can take a rain check on lunch.” Thea said, somewhat sadly.

She was already making her way out the door when Felicity stops her.

“Well, wait.” Felicity calls out. “Now that everyone’s here, why not all of us go out to lunch?”

From the looks of everyone in the room, it was clear that Oliver and Dig are the only ones who are in favor of that idea. Thea and Laurel looks as though they would rather do anything else. Before the two women can refuse, Felicity continues.

“The six of us can go to Big Belly together. We can all spend time together and with baby _Sara_ ,” she put emphasis on the name, sending a look at Laurel’s direction. “And have a nice, _normal_ lunch with friends without any Arrow business.” With the last part, she sent a look at Thea’s direction.

The two women understood what she was trying to say. It wasn’t exactly what they were looking for, though Felicity doesn’t exactly know what their intentions were. Somehow, she can see that there was more to their request that just a simple lunch.

But for now, this is what they can have. Laurel can be around people who knew her sister as someone more than just Sara Lance. And even spend time with the baby girl who is named after her. And Thea can be surrounded by her family. Not just her brother, but the people who has taken her in as her family.

It took a moment but the two women nodded in agreement.

“Sounds fun, I’m in.” Laurel said.

“Yeah, I guess I’m in too.” Thea said.

“Great, let’s go!”

With a grin, Felicity walks out of the office, leading the group with her. Whatever it was that brought her friends to her, she’s grateful for it.

She’s never felt happier than when the people she loves are all together.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this. Kudos and comments are always welcome!
> 
> If you want to say hi, or give me a prompt, come to my tumblr: [bokayjunkie](http://bokayjunkie.tumblr.com/)


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